Tag Archives: Portugal: A Short History

Livermore states in the preface that he was invited to produce a history of Portugal for a series of short histories on various countries. He had already written a longer “History of Portugal” and a more compact “New History of Portugal” so for this version, he decided to concentrate on the evolution of Portuguese society. This volume covers the main important political events with some interpretation of social organization.

The early chapters cover the origins of Portugal from pre-Roman times to the accession of Afonso Henriques, the first Portuguese king. This section covers pre-Roman, Roman Portugal, the Suevi, the Muslims and the territory of Portucale. I found this section a bit of a slog. Livermore gives a general outline of social history here but he basically relies on the reader to know some of the events and people he is writing about. This is basic information and I’ve found other books that go into more detail about this era.

Next up is the formation of the country of Portugal, peninsular integration and the Age of Discoveries. This section holds more interest and details much of Portuguese society in medieval times and the improbable rise of Portugal and their seaborne empire. Again, there is a basic outline of the Portuguese discoveries but this book is not meant to cover this era in detail. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this section as it covered the medieval era and has some interesting characters.

Livermore has a good section on the integration of Portugal with the Spanish monarchy. Relevant to my research was an excellent explanation for the expulsion of the Spanish government and the restoration of the monarchy by naming the Duke of Braganza king and the commencement of a new dynasty. The author devotes a long chapter on the eighteenth century, the absolute monarchy and the dictatorship of Pombal. This section includes a lot of economic data and information on trade with the Portuguese colony of Brazil.

From this point on in the book, I really enjoyed Livermore’s description of the “Liberal Monarchy” and the various political factions that emerged in Portuguese government. While all of this is a genuinely tangled web, Livermore makes it comprehensible. The book ends with the dissolution of the Braganza dynasty of kings and the commencement of a republic in Portugal. This is a great little volume and I highly recommend it.